


A Push in the Right Direction

by BalloonBalls



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, anxious confessions, cute boy confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 18:14:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13664538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BalloonBalls/pseuds/BalloonBalls
Summary: When Sora returns to the dream worlds to visit Neku and company, Joshua stops him. He says that Riku just wants to protect the one person who matters, which gets Sora thinking. Who is the one person that matters? Sora is way too curious to let it drop, especially because of how Joshua looked at him when he said it.





	A Push in the Right Direction

**Author's Note:**

> DDD referencing here, and this takes place at some point in time after DDD when Sora returns from the sleeping worlds.

"I just want to protect the one person who matters." "I know the feeling." Those quotes from a conversation that Sora was not apart of rang through his head like a gong. Joshua had just told him that Beat and Riku said these two things to each other, and he looked like he just spread some juicy gossip when he told Sora. That look kind of made Sora's stomach sink slightly and got the gears in his head spinning. 

It bothered him so much to the point where he had to go back to Yen Sid's tower and confront Riku about this unspoken confession to who knows who. 'Protect the one person who matters' he agreed, but who? Is it Kairi, maybe? Considering both Sora and Riku's past with her. That would be kind of weird, wouldn't it? Sora was pacing outside of the tower, trying to think of how to word this question. What was he even supposed to say? 'Hey I'm back pretty early, that's because Joshua told me you had this conversation with Beat and I just needed to know who you were talking about'. Yeah that doesn't sound weird or anything. 

Maybe he could try being smooth about it, maybe slip it in. He could go undercover with it and say he wanted to visit with Riku for no rhyme or reason. That's not weird, right? Maybe he could say he was going to talk with Donald and Goofy, which he did plan on doing of course. It wasn't a lie, just not the reason why he came is all. He could start with talking about Riku's new title and what he plans to do now and maybe slip in 'hey who's the one person who matters?'. That could totally work, right? No, probably not. This is going nowhere. 

It was pretty interesting though, knowing that even Riku has a special someone he wants to protect with his life. But what bothered Sora so much is that no matter how much he thought and remembered he couldn't pinpoint who Riku would be referencing. Sure they weren't always the closest of friends at some points in time but they are now, and if anything...it kind of hurts that he doesn't know who Riku was talking about. 

Maybe that's why Sora wanted to go back and confront him about this, maybe he was hurting because Riku didn't trust him. He obviously trusted this Beat guy enough to give him more of a hint than Sora was ever given. Seriously, Sora never knew Riku became a trusting type of guy, but he never was like that before. Or maybe he's always been that way, but doesn't really trust Sora at all. No, Sora needed to snap out of this. He smacked his hands to his cheeks and squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe this was scarier than he thought it would be. 

It's just a question right? It's kind of like asking your friend at 3 a.m who their crush is but less awkward. So this should be super easy, back when they were kids Riku would tease Sora over Kairi all the time. So, it's Sora's turn to do the teasing. Ever since Riku has come back, he doesn't tease Sora very much anymore. He rarely talks about Kairi too, maybe Riku really is way different than the guy Sora has known forever. 

Jeez, this stupid fear! Sora has faced big bad guys with long platinum hair and lasers and that's scary enough. This is nothing, absolutely nothing to Sora. He'd rather ask ten million questions than have to face off with the Xehanort wanna-bes again. This fear felt different though, rather than a fear that drives it's a fear that sinks and made his stomach curl. Like coming into contact with a flying, stingy insect. 

Sora could always just ask him later of course, it's not that big of a deal. It'd probably be a better idea to just go in there and greet everyone like normal, pop his face in. He could visit for a few hours then go back to what he was doing, and ask Riku later. It is just one simple, silly question anyway. It's not like the worlds are going to end if he doesn't ask Riku who the hell his one person who matters is. Sora thought he mattered to Riku, but he was wrong. So it's not that big of a deal anyway, it doesn't matter who Riku's number one is. He can just find out when Riku probably confesses to them and they get happily married in the sunset. 

Sora totally wasn't jealous, not at all. Seriously, having someone as his number one? Must be a pretty cool person to get to the dark and edgy Riku like that. Must be way better than...Sora. Sora stopped pacing at that thought then ran his hand through his spiked hair with a sigh. Sora hasn't even seen Riku yet and things are already getting out of hand for him. Maybe it really is best to just keep quiet about it, but he is kind of curious. 

"Sora? What are you doing here?" Came that oh so familiar male voice. Sora was pulled from his thoughts to see Riku and King Mickey opening the doors of the tower together with...luggage in their hands. "Oh! You're leaving?" Sora asked, eyeing up the luggage that they carried. "Yeah, and I thought you were too." Riku said, placing his luggage down at the steps. He came forward, walking towards Sora. Sora did the same, and the two of them stopped at the half way point so they wouldn't have to shout over each other. 

He probably shouldn't say anything, especially not with King Mickey around. It'd just be rude- "Hey Riku, before you go can I talk to you?" Sora blurted out. Well, so much for keeping things undercover. Riku gave him a confused look, but it seemed like he understood the 'seriousness' of the situation. Even though it's not serious, at all, just a question, a dumb question. If it's not serious then why is Sora sweating so much? 

"I'll go upstairs, there's some left over cake from the party! Let me know when you're ready to leave, Riku!" Mickey said, and Riku turned to face him and nodded. Mickey then turned around and hauled his luggage back inside, closing the door behind him. Riku then turned back to Sora, and Sora's heart sank. The realization set in, there was no escape now. He had to ask him, or else this would just be really awkward and stupid. Well, it's already awkward and stupid. 

"What's wrong?" Riku asked, his expression stern but not mean. He always looks like that though, so it's not as intimidating as it should be. Oh man, Sora's knees were starting to buckle. If he didn't sit down he was going to actually lose blood and faint from this. "I'm gonna go sit down." Sora said, shuffling past Riku and making his way to the steps in a faster pace than usual. Riku took note of Sora's confusing state, and acted with caution. "O...kay?" Riku said, following behind Sora to take a seat at the steps as well. 

Once the two of them were seated in their spots, the awkwardness really started to set in. Sora didn't know how to properly look at him. He was about to find out who Riku's special someone is! If anything, he really never saw Riku as the type to hold and cherish someone in that fashion so it's a pretty groundbreaking discovery. It's probably best for him to just spit out the question before he chickens out. 

"Hey, Riku, can I ask you something?" Sora asked, holding his own hand. "Sure, what's up?" Riku asked, leaning back on his hands behind him and trying his best to relax the situation. "Well, I went back to the sleeping realm right? I went to go talk to Neku and Joshua and all of them. Joshua told me something and I just wanted to ask you about it." Sora said, looking at Riku. The fear has just went from a sinking fear to a boost of adrenaline fear. There's no going back now.

"Oh? Did Joshua tell you something about what's going on with the Xehanorts? Does he know something?" Riku asked in a serious tone, sitting up. "No- no nothing about them. It was about something you said." Sora said and Riku gave him a confused face which asked him to continue. "Who's the one person who matters to you?" Sora blurted out. Oh man, he really didn't play it delicate at all! This is going way worse than Sora thought it would!

Riku looked a bit shocked, but his face didn't really go red that much. Well, not from what Sora could see anyway. "Uh-why?" Riku asked, trying his best to diffuse the awkwardness with a casual tone. However that didn't go well at all. "Because you told Beat you knew the feeling when he said he just wanted to protect the one person who matters. So who is it?" Sora asked, and Riku looked away from him. "Just because I said I knew the feeling doesn't mean I directly said that I have one special person to protect." Riku said, trying to save himself from having to discuss this. 

"It kinda does mean you want to protect the one person who matters. Look it's okay, you can trust me. I'm your best friend and best friends share secrets all the time!" Sora said, trying to stay cheerful so he could lull Riku into cracking and telling him. Riku took a deep breath, then let it out in a silent sigh. "This is just different though, it's not that I don't trust you it's just that...I don't know." Riku said, running his hand through his hair. 

That sinking feeling came back to Sora, worse than the first time. It felt like rocks were tied to his body, no boulders. Sora's got to stay strong now, or else this will all be for nothing. Besides, there's no way he can make this worse now can he? "Do you-do you like that person?" Sora asked. Oh no, this situation just keeps getting worse and worse. Riku didn't look at Sora, he was embarrassed. He kept his eyes to his legs as he mumbled, "I guess." Sora's boulders just became mountains. He likes someone and never even told Sora? When Sora liked Kairi he told Riku, so why isn't it the same now? 

"Do you not want to tell me because it's Kairi? I won't be mad if it is." Sora said, and Riku busted into laughter. "I like Kairi, but not like that! Jeez Sora, I thought you knew me better than that!" Riku said, smiling from ear to ear. Sora couldn't help but smile too, he was relieved. It would have been pretty awkward if Riku liked the girl that Sora used to like for who knows how many years. 

"I was just checking!" Sora defended himself. "But no-no it's not Kairi. Not at all." Riku said, still smiling just a little. "Well, that's the only person who I thought it would be. So obviously it's got to be someone I didn't know you were so close to. Is she someone from the islands? Or from a different world?" Sora asked. "Come on, it's not that important. Besides, they'd never like me like that anyway." Riku said, his eyes still glued to his legs and still smiling to himself. It was a sad kind of a smile though, almost like a hopeless romantic. This is a whole new side of Riku that Sora isn't really used to seeing. 

"It does matter, you're my best friend and best friends help each other out. Even with girl problems. I'd never judge you, and I'd never be mad at you for whoever you have feelings for. You gotta try to think positive, okay?" Sora said, smiling his usual smile. If only Sora could stay positive during this talk too. Somehow, helping and comforting Riku was always something that made Sora really happy. Maybe it's just knowing that his words have an emotional impact on someone who's really important to Sora. 

Riku sighed with defeat, which meant he was giving into Sora's happy-go-lucky attitude about the question. Sora perked up, knowing he finally was going to hear the answer he was waiting to hear. For some strange reason it felt like butterflies were cluttering about inside Sora's stomach. He'd never judge Riku or anything but what if Sora isn't too fond of the answer? He really didn't think that far in advance at all. Well, it's too late to turn back now. Besides, his curiosity is getting the better of him anyway. 

"Well...yeah there is one person who I just want to protect. They mean everything to me. We've been friends since we were kids, and we've been through a lot together. We...well-" Riku paused, his smile turning to a fonder and nicer smile, "We were pretty immature. We always acted so stupid all the time, looking back on it. We used to fight all the time, but I'm not entirely sure they knew how much I cared about them. I didn't really want them to know anyway, I wanted to keep up my 'cool guy' appearance. Eventually, I wanted to leave the tiny islands. I was...angry. They started to fight me and look at me like I was the enemy, and then eventually stopped looking at me entirely. Someone else was important to them now, and I just wanted to protect what I had with them. So I gave into the darkness, to get strength to protect what matters. What mattered to me was that past I had with them. It consumed me, my jealousy and hate." Riku stopped talking for a moment, his smile faded. 

"Maleficent and Ansem used it against me. They'd show me how much happier they were without me around, but I couldn't help myself. I had to go back at least once and go see them, even if I'd regret it. They were so...happy to see me. It made me really happy too, but they still couldn't stop mentioning the other person. I didn't want to hate this other person, but they were taking the one who mattered away from me. I didn't want to bring harm to either of the two, but I felt like I had no choice. My hatred was so twisted and destructive I was willing to take it out on anyone who stood in my way.

"But then...I woke up. In the realm of darkness, I changed my ways. I gave into the darkness, and was nothing but a pawn. But something kept me going, something woke me up. A voice, they called out my name. They saved me, and woke me up. From that point on, I felt like I was in their debt. I felt as if I owed them, and I wanted to apologize to them. However there was no way I could confront them as the way I was.  Eventually I got the opportunity to see them again, and I was so happy. I changed back to me, and was in my body. From that day on I vowed to always stand by their side and protect them no matter what. And I have kept that promise, no matter what the consequences may have been.

"I did a lot of bad things, all for the sake of them. Even if it was wrong, they always were the one that I thought of. But I've accepted now that they don't feel for me the same way I do and I'm okay with that. As lon as they're happy I guess I don't really mind." Sora felt dazed by this intense confession, but one thing kept bothering him. Riku never gave out this mystery person's name and that was the entire point of this conversation! Since when did Riku have someone so close to him? And why did Sora not know about them? The way Riku is gushing about this person, there's no way he could've kept this person locked up tight for as long as he's making it seem. "They? Who are you talking about?" Sora asked, and Riku just smiled sadly.

"Who do you think it is?" Riku asked, clearly faking confidence. "I don't know, that's why I asked." Sora said, he was starting to get frustrated. If Riku doesn't tell him then he's going to have to use this confession of his as teasing material until he fesses up. Sora couldn't understand why Riku couldn't just say their name, by the looks of it it doesn't seem like Sora knows them. So what's the big deal? 

Riku raised his right hand and slowly reached out to hold up Sora under his jaw with his fingertips. They laid nicely and were warm and soothing. It was quite comforting but just a little weird. He let it sit there for a second, and Sora was started to get really nervous. Riku's been close to him before, he's pulled him in for noogies and Sora's pulled him in for hugs before. But something about the way Riku is looking at him is what's different. He's not confident, he's not sad either, he looks...petrified. It seemed like he was waiting for Sora to do something, waiting for him to pull away from the strange touch. Sora couldn't though, he was just as confused as Riku was nervous. He wanted to see what the hell Riku was planning on doing.

Riku slowly leaned in, very slowly. His body and face moved closer to Sora's. The space between the two was changing from friendly to intimate. Oh man, was Riku seriously going in to kiss him?! Sora closed his eyes tight, idiot why didn't he just pull away from Riku?! Sora was acting like a deer in headlights. Sora felt a soft pair of lips on his right cheek, kissing it. It was an interesting feeling, they were moist and soft. This was the first time Sora had ever had his cheek kissed by a guy though. Sora couldn't really tell if he really minded this new feeling on his cheek. The lips stayed for a few seconds, like the owner of the lips were just savoring the moment. Sora started to open his eyes slowly as Riku pulled away from his face. What the hell just happened?! 

"Does that help any?" Riku asked. Sora's mouth was agape, he was speechless. There's no way, no way ever, that he...was the most important. It would make a lot of sense though with everything Riku has done for him and what Riku had just did and said. It would make sense, but that doesn't mean it would make sense to Sora. It made sense to Sora but at the same time it didn't, his head started to hurt. Riku-" "It's okay, you don't have to reciprocate. I get it, you like Kairi but you did want to know. This was the only way I could tell you without...telling you." Riku said, and it was clear he was already setting himself up for rejection. 

Suddenly, Sora found himself tongue-tied and holding a bottle of entirely new but not unfamiliar emotions. Just unfamiliar toward this one person. It was the same feeling he felt for...Kairi. "Riku, remember back in the realm of darkness when you and I started talking about ourselves and our pasts. We both wanted to imitate each other, I remember. Sometimes I find myself still wanting to be like you, having the strength to be able to conquer the darkness in my heart the way you have. But this feeling you feel toward me, I remember it. I liked feeling this way for Kairi and it's...something I think I'm imitating from you. I think I've been imitating it ever since you came back for good." Sora said, looking right at Riku as  adrenaline  and new emotions flowed through him. 

Riku looked shocked and confused, like he just found out he won the lottery. "Something in me drove me to come back here and talk with you about who your most important one was. In my heart, I think I was feeling a little hurt. I couldn't understand why, but now I think I might be able to. I...wanted it to be me, I think, and I was kind of sad that it wasn't me. I used the excuse that it was because of a 'best friends tell each other everything' kind of upset. I kept saying I was mad because you didn't tell me who it was. I think I was just unable to see what I was really feeling because it seemed so insane for that to really be the case." Sora said, smiling calmly. 

Riku started to smile too, which made Sora's chest flutter just slightly. "What about Kairi? When did you stop liking her and start liking..." Riku asked but unable to finish his sentence. "I kind of stopped liking her when I was reunited with the two of you again like I said. It just didn't feel right anymore." Sora said, and Riku nodded in response. "I should get going, the King is waiting for me." Riku said, starting to stand up. Sora followed, standing as well. Sora wasn't angry that Riku was cutting the conversation short, he understood. It was probably really scary for Riku to finally admit to this huge crush he's had for years. They'll have plenty of time to talk once they see each other again. "I should too, I didn't really finish what I was supposed to do. I just sorta rushed over here." Sora said, laughing a bit. 

"Be careful, okay?" Riku asked. "You too on whatever secret mission you and the King are on." Sora said with a smile. He didn't expect Riku to explain, he's done enough explaining for one day. He was probably going to find out eventually anyway. If Riku and the King are leaving then...that means it's probably going to be a while before he would ever get to talk to Riku about whatever just transpired between the two of them. Sora wanted to say goodbye in a way that felt different since things are different. So, he decided to wrapped his arms around Riku and pull him closer. Sora hugged him in a tight hug, his arms around Riku's shoulders. It wasn't like the hug when he tackled him, a much simpler hug. A hug with a greater meaning but with calmer feelings. 

Riku hugged him too, which took Sora by surprise. Riku was never really the hugging type, but then again he is learning a lot of different things about Riku today anyway. Riku's hands were around Sora's chest and pulled him closer to Riku than he's ever been. He was able to smell his very faint scent and hear his heartbeat in his chest. It was the most soothing thing that Sora has ever been apart of. The two stayed like that for a few moments before they both pulled away from the hug, deciding it was time to go. Riku grabbed his luggage and Sora started to walk back down the steps. Riku waved at Sora to tell him goodbye one last time and Sora waved too. With that, Riku turned around and went back inside to go grab the King. 

Sora sighed, like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. Though he wasn't entirely sure of what had just happened, he was just a bit too happy to even care. Besides, he's got a job to do and not a whole lot of time to do it. So there isn't much time to sit around and figure out these complex emotions anyway. They're there and they're nice, so that's all that matters.

 


End file.
